phil: he goes through it, very aggressive. and puts it right down the middle. jim: no scar tissue with that one. phil: that's right. that is a good way to say it. we talk about this every sunday when you're doing golf, watching guys. and gostkowski, that is excellent. when you're aggressive it takes some of the pressure out of it, no question. i think kicking would be like a lot of other sports. be aggressive wit, let your body be natural. jim: so now the coin toss for overtime. referee: all right, jeff.

we're in a modified sudden death overtime. both teams will have the opportunity to possess the football. unless one of the teams scores a safety or a touchdown. ok? each team -- all reviews will be upstairs. each team has two time-outs. the coin is a head, the tails. the head, the tails. what is your call? tails is the call. tails is the call. it is a head. who wants the football? this way. new england won the toss and will receive. jay: new england will be receiving the overtime kickoff. they just went 54 yards in a they just went 54 yards in a minute and a half to tie it. [ fan 2 ] here we go. wait, what? our proximity to the field, creates a parallel connection between the bottle and the ball. the outward facing label simulates a smoother contact surface for the kicker.

it's like magic. only real. really? yeah. [ whistle blows ] [ cheers and applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] bud light. for the fans who do whatever it takes. alright, alright. now this is a party. what is that? go, go, go. mmm. give me some of that sauce.

i don't know, i think i might bail. yeah, it's pretty dead. [ male announcer ] one is never enough. new kfc dip'ems. freshly prepared tenders dipped in irresistible sauces. this is it. now this is a party. [ male announcer ] try a 3 piece combo for just $5. today tastes so good. jim: the overtimes rules enacted two years ago for postseason only, but then after last year's playoffs, they decided to implement it for the regular season as well. booth reviews only. if you score a touchdown here on the first possession the game is over. otherwise, each team gets a possession. this is the fourth overtime game in rex's tenure with the jets. on the road and he's 3-0.

mccourty. covered up by the jets at the 16-yard line. demario davis in on that tackle along with marcus dowtin. just brought up. phil: a lot of new names for the jets this game. jim: running play. and woodhead has a couple. phil: muhammad wilkerson. what a job he did last week.

him and coples, the defensive line, they've been solid all day long. jim: their future. second down and 8. and that's deion branch with a veteran play, knowing where that first-down yardage is. his first catch goes for a first down. they're back to the no-huddle. again woodhead. he gets the call on first down. got maybe a yard.

second down and 9. welker across the middle. to the 41. phil: no chance that time, the jets defense. you have davis outside against welker. they stagger him behind the other receiver. this -- there is nothing you can do. he's so quick, breaks across the middle, he is wide open. jim: picks up 13. favre you have to get a defensive back on him. jim: hernandez takes a hit in the side from landry, who pushes him back. holds him to two. phil: rex ryan talked about it. when you see wes welker to one side of the formation with one other receiver -- just like this. he's to the top of the screen inside. he said tom brady loves to go to him in those situations and

he's got what he wants. jim: second and 8. ball is out, incomplete. phil: boy, it came out of there. i don't know if it was a hit or he dropped it. jim: trufant and davis both on him. phil: good job by trufant. such a big area to cover such a quick receiver. that's what it's all about. jim: third and 8. phil: three-man rush. jim: no flag, well, now there is. pass thrown to hernandez. and that patriot sideline was very upset when there wasn't a flag thrown right away. referee: pass interference,

defense, number 20. ball will be played from the spot of the foul. first down. jim: rex can only shake his head. watch where the flag came from. pam: top of the screen. jim: the guy four yards wallet it go. first and 10. and somersaulting for about three is woodhead. phil: well, they tried a couple of defenses. one more for first down and you have to start taking a chance. as a defensive coach and players, you need the negative play. jim: on second and 7. back over to welker, who tip toes down the sideline for another first down near the 34. he escaped demario davis for

12. phil: same thing again, two-receiver side. it was inside and now you break him outside. jim: remember, a field goal would not end it. a touchdown would. phil: good point. jim: first down from the 34 and brady. time to go deep to the end zone and dejon branch was down there with yeremiah bell. phil: it kind of makes me backtrack. you can give on this drive, knowing if they get a field goal they have a chance to tie and you have four downs. jim: the first time there was ever a chance for this new fanged overtime system to be implemented, tim tebow ended it on the first play of the overtime last season on the first pitch to thomas.

first down and 10. tough catch. woodhead for four. another third down on the way. a field goal from here would be about a 48-yard attempt. but first they want more. third and 6. phil: this could be the first blitz of this drive. jim: sideline and incomplete. wilson on the coverage and again they're howling for a flag but they're not going to get it this time. phil: danny woodhead did a good job picking up the blitzer. brady fly trying to throw the back shoulder. and there is no foul on that play. watch woodhead, 3, takes down david harris.

good coverage on the outside by kyle wilson. jim: so gostkowski back out. this from 48 yards. gostkowski's kick -- it's a beauty. and now the jets will have a chance of their own. a possession coming their way. new england puts three on the new england puts three on the board.

hahahaha! hooohooo, hahaha! this is awesome! folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. i'd say happier than a slinky on an escalator. get happy. get geico. melons!!! oh yeah!! well that was uncalled for. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy, ronny? happier than gallagher at a farmers' market. get happy. get geico. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the new droid razrm by motorola. with 4g lte speed and a big screen that's fit for your hand. say hello to the full-screen phone.

jim: jim nantz and phil simms back here in overtime and now the jets know what they must do. if they go down and kick a field goal, then the next team to score would win. in the old days that field goal by gostkowski would have closed it out. but mcknight will be back deep and sanchez is ready to go. it's been a very productive afternoon for that jets offense. phil: yeah, it has. now they know they have four plays and it's always important to always moe the situation. if you're the quarterback, sacks, being careful for your alignment, the penalties. jim: mcknight he'd like to get a running start. here he goes. edelman down there on the kick

coverage. mcknight, who led the league in kickoff return average last year, only gets it to the 15. phil: it's amazing. i don't know how it is for you. i know it was as a player. the difference between starting on the 15 or 20rks psychologically it was a big deal. jim: shonn greene just threw on the helmet and comes out into the jets' huddle. that's a good point. phil: makes the defense go well, we have a few extra yards here in our favor. jim: over the greene. covered up. that was tavon wilson. holds him to two. phil: some really terrific

open-field tackling today by both teams, but the patriots doing a good job of coming up and bringing those short passes, those receivers to the ground. not giving up the extra yards after the catch. jim: greene comes out, mcknight back in. there's mcknight. and he's only out to the 21. that was some tackle by mayo. remember, a stop or a takeaway, the game is over. but as you pointed out, they know they have four downs to get the first. phil: they're trying to go up to the right side. nothing there. spikes took it away. the cutback, what a nice tackle by mayo. jim: third and 5 for new york.

sanchez. flag is down as he throws it over the head of hill. that's jason hill. phil: that was a really good call. jim: probably a hold against the patriots' secondary. referee: prior to the pass, holding, number 37 of the defense. five-yard penalty. automatic first down. jim: called on dennard. phil: how many times did i say they like to go short on these situations? he was trying to make a move to get down there. dennard, that is a hold from the start all the way. the play was designed for hill to make a little inside move then go deep.

jim: ninkovich all over mcknight behind the line and a loss of two! phil: aggressive defense from the outside. not even blocked that time. joe mcknight, he's in there one running the football, jim. when he comes off the field, it is a bad limp. jim: they have hilliard. sanchez facing a second and 12. nate ebner, number 43, in there on the defense. sanchez. throws it. and it is caught by kerley. phil: wow. jim: that was a wobbler but right on it for 17. sanchez had big-time heat and he was able to shake it off. phil: it's a four-man rush and he stood, stepped up, and had

to wait a long time. what pass protection. and you see what happened there. kerley was waiting for stephen hill to get out of the way on the outside so he could break it out. a route we always see with antonio gates of san diego. everybody trying to copy it. jim: remember, a field goal extends it, a touchdown ends it. a turnover also ends it the other way, as mcknight comes back out for no gain. kyle love and wins ville fork not giving him an inch. again, tonight on cbs -- only cbs, america's number one network. hilliard the running back.

sanchez with the ball out! and the recovery ends it. ninkovich calls -- falls on it. new england, 29-26 final. it was cunningham and ninkovich on sanchez. it could be reviewed, though, so hold on a minute. cunningham had just come in the game to rush the passer. phil: they took out a linebacker, brought him in. he was fresh and got the pressure from the inside. number 96 breaking through. that is a fumble. trying to throw it away. with nowhere to throw it to. jim: look at cunningham down low on the ankles. referee: we are going to review the previous play.

jim: ninkovich smothers him too. of course, the question here, is this is tuck rule? that's basically what they have to look at. was there any chance at all the arm was moving forward or down into a tuck position? phil: yeah, i think he was pulling it back to throw. that's a good one. of course that tuck rule started right here. the old stadium. jim: in a game against the raiders. phil: it comes out as he's trying to take the football back to throw it. jim: the players are already out on the field. they've already announced, too, to everyone that this play is under review. phil: i think both teams were probably told from the coaches above it's a fumble. jim: it would be nice, though, if they waited for the official word.

we've already -- they've already said their peace. the two coaches are still waiting for jeff triplette to say it's official. if this holds up it's going to be a stunner. biggest underdog of the day in the league. here comes triplett. referee: after review, the ruling on the field is confirmed. it is a fumble and recovered by new england. the game is over. jim: and the new york jets stand alone in first place now -- the new england patriots, i should say, at 4-3. what an amazing game here. phil: it was. good job by the jets hanging in there but you give the patriots a chance, today they finally took advantage of it. jim: so the jets put up an incredible fight and the patriots win it in overtime.

here it is. the play to close it out. the jets gave it their all. they came from 10 down in the fourth. and new england is the leader in their division. so long from foxborough. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! oh...there you go. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

the other airlines versus southwest in bag fee barrage. [ announcer 2 ] the other airlines contestant is getting pummeled with bag fees. oh, but he's flying southwest. no bag fees for this guy! got to give it up for bags fly free. business travelers win with southwest.

captioning funded by cbs and ford-- built for the road ahead. >> kroft: if you want to know what legalized marijuana might look like, the place to go is colorado, which has the most developed medical marijuana industry in the country. >> when patients arrive, this is where they'll have to show their patient registry card and their driver's license to gain access to the actual marijuana center itself. >> kroft: you can smell it. ( laughs ) it's not a joking matter. 17 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, and in some cases, as a way to raise money for their cash-strapped state budgets. all of those people are violating federal law. >> exactly. >> i literally wanted to hit the board of directors over the head and say, "listen, i was proud of goldman sachs. i worked here for a long time." >> cooper: when people leave

goldman sachs, they tend to leave quietly. they rarely talk about the inner workings of the firm, let alone criticize them. but seven months ago, a young goldman sachs vice president did just that, resigning in an article on the op-ed page of "the new york times." so an op-ed resignation, you hoped it would be a wake-up call. >> my view is the only way you force people to change a system is by saying something publicly. >> i've always wanted to tell a story about lincoln. >> stahl: steven spielberg's new film "lincoln" focuses on our 16th president's almost impossible task of passing the 13th amendment abolishing slavery. the director researched the project for 12 years and cast oscar-winning actor daniel day lewis as abraham lincoln. >> blood's been spilt to afford us this moment. now, now, now! >> i think the film is very relevant for today. it's about leadership. >> stahl: leadership. >> and about telling the truth.

>> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm leslie stahl. >> i'm bob simon. >> i'm lara logan. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories tonight on "60 minutes." "ever ask somebody to lend you a foot?" "who thinks about stuff like that?" "vince mahe grew up on two continents... and noticed that wherever you go, people have their hands full, but their feet free." "the result? a liftgate you operate with your foot." "code name?" "open sesame" "the all new twenty thirteen ford escape. it's what happens when you go further."

two. three. my credit card rewards are easy to remember. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas! no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] it's as easy as... [ all ] one! -two. -[ all ] three! [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. charlotte liked the stars better than probably anything, even the cool, sophisticated billy pierce. but one day, charlotte's stars vanished. what feats of incredible power could bring them back to her? suddenly, a gift appeared -- the 30 billion stars she so missed. happy holidays, charlotte. i'm billy pierce, and i gave charlotte back the stars. ultrabook, inspired by intel. with intel core processors. ♪

with the fidelity stock screener, you can try strategies from independent experts and see what criteria they use. such as a 5% yield on dividend-paying stocks. then you can customize the strategies and narrow down to exactly those stocks you want to follow. i'm mark allen of fidelity investments. the expert strategies feature is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account.

>> kroft: when people go to the polls two weeks from now, they won't just be voting for candidates. in some states, they'll be passing judgment on social issues. in oregon, washington, and the rocky mountain state of colorado, it's the legalization of marijuana. part of this has to do with cash-starved governments looking for new things to tax for more revenue. but much of it has to do with the growing acceptance, or at least tolerance, for a drug that was once considered the devil's weed and a flash point for cultural and generational warfare. 17 states have now legalized its medical use for the treatment of things like glaucoma, the effects of chemotherapy, and chronic pain, defying federal laws that still consider marijuana more dangerous than cocaine and methamphetamine. if you want to know what legalized marijuana might look

like, the place to go is colorado, which has the most developed medical marijuana industry in the country. in denver, if you want to find a medical marijuana dispensary, just look for the green cross. you won't have to go far. there are 204 of them in the mile high city; that's roughly three times the number of starbucks and mcdonald's combined. they come in all sizes and shapes. there is the health food store motif, and '70s-style head shops. there are storefronts pitching low-cost weed, and boutiques offering gourmet ganja. no stems and seeds here, just walnut-sized buds freshly harvested in the cultivation room out back. >> matt cook: when patients arrive, this is where they'll have to show their patient registry card and their driver's license to gain access to the actual marijuana center itself. >> kroft: you can smell it.

this is all private enterprise, licensed, regulated and taxed by the state. it was enshrined in the colorado constitution after voters approved an amendment allowing the sale the marijuana to people who can demonstrate that they may benefit from its avowed medicinal properties. matt cook, a former narcotics officer, wrote the law and served as the state's first director of enforcement. >> cook: if you'll note, video security cameras in the system... in the ceiling. >> kroft: any reason for that? >> cook: there is. we created a very transparent regulatory scheme and wanted to ensure that what they said they were doing, they were actually doing. >> kroft: no state has gone to the lengths to manage medical marijuana that colorado has. every licensed dispensary must grow at least 70% of its own product-- indoors, so harvesting and sales can be closely monitored. this crop is worth about a quarter of million dollars. >> cook: we track everything from seed to sale. and they have to account for 100% of it. we've got a gentleman here that

has a live, if you will, software program that does all of the tracking for this commodity. >> kroft: each plant has a bar code and is registered to a specific patient. most dispensaries will cultivate a couple of dozen different strains-- some of them proprietary, like ales at a microbrewery-- engineered to have particular characteristics, as our "budtender," carrie, explained. >> carrie: this is called jack frost, but it's a triple-a-- alert, awake, and aware. if you needed to medicate in the a.m. before going to work, no one would ever be able to detect that you took any medicine, just as you would any other medicines that you take. so no physical lethargy, is my point. >> kroft: we should point out that those properties are anecdotal, and not based on studies by either the f.d.a. or the d.e.a., a subject we will get to shortly. there is also no correlation between the more popular brand names and the ailments they alleviate. dopium is a medication available at denver relief, owned by ean seeb.

it's gotten high marks from critics-- yes, there are medical marijuana critics in colorado, even competitions. you won the colorado medical marijuana harvest cup couple of years ago? >> ean seeb: we did in 2009. and our biodiesel won five out of the six categories and first place. so we won the overall award. it was a sweeping victory, if you will. and then we put... >> kroft: "biodiesel"? >> seeb: yeah. >> kroft: that's the name of it? >> seeb: yes, it is. and it's... it's become... >> kroft: doesn't sound like medicine. >> seeb: there's a lot of strains out there that don't sound like medicine, because this didn't used to be legal. and those strain names have not changed, you know, strains back in the '70s. you know, there was "afghani" that we still have, "ak-47" that came from the hindu kush region of afghanistan originally. >> kroft: but it's not all brand loyalty and nostalgia. there are lots of new things on the dispensary shelf, especially for non-smokers. they're called edibles, the marriage of botanical science and the culinary arts-- marijuana infused cookies, candy, chocolate truffles, even

olive oil. and for patients watching their waistline, there are marijuana pills that come in different strengths, just like tylenol and advil. >> carrie: you simply take it with a glass of water and it puts you where you need to be. >> kroft: the people who have invested money in all of this are known locally as "ganja- preneurs." colorado has had a history of gold rushes and silver rushes, and some people have dubbed this the "green rush"-- not just for the color of medical marijuana, but for the money that might eventually be made here if you are among the first to stake a claim. kristi kelly was doing marketing in washington when she decided to invest in a medical marijuana dispensary. >> kristi kelly: there's not a lot of opportunities in any one lifetime where you can be a part of something from such an early stage. and so, ultimately, my partners begged me to come out. and my husband and i packed up our bags and shut down our life in d.c. and moved out here. >> tripp keber: the company's evolution has been fairly

dynamic. >> kroft: tripp keber is c.e.o. of dixie elixirs, the leading manufacturer of cannabis-laced edibles. it supplies most of the state's 537 dispensaries from this factory, which he calls state- of-the-art for the industry, which means small scale. >> keber: so here we have lexi, who is one of our production specialists. she's preparing our medicated chocolate rolls, which are certainly one of our most popular edibles products. >> kroft: smells really good. it looks good. >> thank you. ( laughter ) >> kroft: dixie elixir's product line includes ice creams and medicated beverages that come in ten different flavors. >> keber: we have a 75- milligram, 12-ounce sparkling red currant, would be the equivalent of four or five doses of medicine for a patient >> kroft: what would happen to me if i drank one of these? >> keber: you would have a very long but mellow afternoon. ( laughter ) >> kroft: keber and his partners

have poured a million dollars into this business, and have also pioneered edible products and capsules they say contain all of the medicinal benefits of marijuana, but without the high. what's your business plan? >> keber: so, our plan, you know, and i'm... >> kroft: ...long-term and short-term. >> keber: sure, the long-term plan for this business, for dixie elixirs and edibles, as i've never been really shy to share, is ultimately to sell it. i truly believe that whether it's big alcohol, big tobacco or big pharma, a company like one of those is going to look very, very closely at medical cannabis. it's about a $2 billion market in 2012, growing to just under $9 billion in 2016. so you're seeing hockey-stick growth. and i think companies like dixie are well positioned to be acquired as the industry develops. >> kroft: it's a risky proposition. the industry requires a big capital investment and the medical marijuana marketplace is already saturated. but matt cook, who wrote the rule book for all this and is now a consultant to the medical marijuana industry, says it's

helped pull denver out of the recession, occupying once vacant retail and industrial space, providing thousands of jobs and new revenue for the state of colorado. what's the economic impact been? >> cook: it's huge. there's over a million square feet of leased space in the denver area. look at all the electrical contractors, the hvac contractors, a number of ancillary businesses. it's huge. tax revenues exceeded... i believe the last number i heard was in excess of $20 million. >> kroft: but in spite of all the euphoria, there is a cloud hanging over the cannabis industry in colorado, and it's not marijuana smoke. it's the federal controlled substances act, which still lists marijuana as a schedule one drug, every bit as dangerous as heroin, with no medical benefit. and the justice department is not happy with the wide-scale commercialization of colorado cannabis. sam kamin is a law professor at the university of denver, and one of the reigning experts on

the subject. in colorado, you can grow it if you're licensed, and you can sell it if you're licensed to people who have a card to buy it. >> sam kamin: yes, but... >> kroft: and all of those people are violating federal law. >> kamin: exactly. and that's the really strange thing is that we have this, you know, sort of hundreds of dispensaries servicing as many as 100,000 people, and every transaction that occurs is a federal crime, and every... all the manufacturing of the product, from the growing of it to the making of the products and everything else. all of those are serious federal crimes. >> kroft: even though the state of colorado has passed a constitutional amendment allowing it... >> kamin: exactly. >> kroft: ...sanctioning it. >> kamin: exactly, right? the federal government sees it as a serious crime. they say, "we know that california and 16 other states, the district of columbia, we know you guys think it's medicine. it's not. we hear that you want to legalize it. you can't. we can't make you undo your statutes, but we can sure come in and prosecute your citizens that are violating federal law." >> kroft: but they haven't. >> kamin: but they haven't.

>> kroft: and there's a reason for that-- some might call it the triumph of the marketplace. the federal government doesn't have enough manpower to shut down the medical marijuana business in colorado or prosecute all the purveyors and patients. and the voters don't want it. boulder county district attorney stan garnett says it's virtually impossible to impanel a jury on a marijuana case here, let alone get a conviction. >> stan garnett: what we deal with is what prosecutors call jury nullification, where juries say, "i know what the law is, but i'm not going to follow it." this community has made it very clear that criminal enforcement of marijuana is not something they want me to spend any time on. >> kroft: it is really an issue here? >> garnett: it's really not an issue. >> kroft: and that is, more or less, the position of justice department in washington. deputy attorney general james cole has told u.s. attorneys not to waste resources prosecuting patients or caregivers that are in clear compliance with state medical marijuana laws.

>> james cole: our focus is really on keeping it away from children. our focus is keeping it out of the hands of organized crime. our focus is making sure that people aren't, through marijuana dispensaries, using it as a pretext to do large-scale interstate drug dealing. these are the areas where we're really trying to focus. >> kroft: so the message is, if you're licensed in the state of colorado and you follow the law, then you should be okay. >> cole: each case is going to rise and fall on its own unique facts. any of that is still in violation of the controlled substances act of the federal law. we're not interested in bothering people who are sick and are using it on the recommendation of a doctor. we are concerned with people who are using it as a pretext to become large-scale drug dealers. >> kroft: so it sounds like the federal government is tolerating it. >> kamin: it is tolerating it. and at the same time is, below the surface, trying to make it

very difficult for these folks. it's doing it through banking regulations. if... if you talk to dispensary owners, one of the things that they will lament is, no one will do business with us. >> kroft: the justice department has let it be known if financial institutions do business with medical marijuana centers, they could be at risk for civil or criminal prosecution under the controlled substances act or federal money laundering statutes. it's made it difficult, if not impossible, for dispensaries to get loans, open company bank accounts, or process patients' credit cards. >> kamin: it can't stay like this. either we have to have settled expectations that this is a federal crime, the federal government's not going to tolerate it, or the federal government is going to let states like colorado regulate it, tax it, experiment with it. to have it exist in both worlds simultaneously is unsustainable. we can't have a multimillion- dollar industry built on criminal conduct. >> kroft: a federal appeals court in washington, d.c., is currently hearing a case that

could remove marijuana from the list of the most dangerous drugs, and into a category that would allow it to be prescribed by doctors. on the political front, the referendums in colorado and washington state to legalize marijuana for recreational use are considered too close to call. whoa, look at all those toys. insuring that stuff must be a pain. nah, he's probably got... [ dennis' voice ] allstate. they can bundle all your policies together. lot of paperwork. actually... [ dennis' voice ] an allstate agent can help do the switching and paperwork for you. well, it probably costs a lot. [ dennis' voice ] allstate can save you up to 30% more when you bundle. well, his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. ♪ bundle and save with an allstate agent. are you in good hands? bu♪ le and save with an allstate agent. ♪

♪ ♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ] but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. this is our year. i thought it was last year... turns out i was wrong. none of us would walk in here and settle. that's how we are! i forgot what i was going to say.

patrick, i want 100% commitment! because i care man, ok? who are we!? 49ers! 49ers! 49ers! yeah! [ all cheering ] what the heck is going on in here? sorry coach, i just got a little carried away. alright, i think we're good. [ morgan ] for a chance to be in a locker room on game day and more... join visa nfl fan offers and make your season epic. to financial independence. ♪ whether you're just beginning the journey... ♪ ...starting a family... ♪ ...or entering a new chapter of your life. while the journey is yours, pacific life can help you protect and grow the assets you'll need along the way. to learn how, visit pacificlife.com. pacific life. the power to help you succeed.

>> pelley: now, cnn's anderson cooper, on assignment for "60 minutes." >> cooper: many of us have, at some point in our lives, dreamed of quitting our jobs very loudly and telling our bosses exactly what we really think. very few of us ever do it. but seven months ago, a vice president at the legendary investment bank goldman sachs did just that, resigning in an article on the op-ed page of "the new york times."

the article caused a sensation, not just because its author, greg smith, was saying, three- and-a-half years after the financial crisis, that the bank was headed on the wrong ethical course, but also because it's so unusual to learn anything at all about the inner workings of goldman sachs. when people leave goldman, they tend to do it quietly. though the firm's gold-plated reputation took a big hit after the 2008 financial crisis, it's still regarded as the smartest, most profitable and politically well-connected firm on wall street, and the toughest place to get a job. now, on the eve of publishing a book about his experiences at goldman, greg smith is talking for the first time about what led him to leave the firm, and to do it in such a public way. >> greg smith: i literally wanted to hit the board of directors over the head, and say, "listen, i was... i was proud of goldman sachs. i worked here for a long time." >> cooper: so, an op-ed resignation. you hoped it would be a wake-up call?

>> smith: i really did. because there are a lot of people who acknowledge these things internally, but no one is willing to say it publicly. and my view was, the only way you force people to change the system is by saying something publicly. >> cooper: at the time he left goldman sachs, greg smith was 33 years old, and making roughly half a million dollars a year as a vice president, a mid-level position, in the division of goldman sachs that trades securities for hedge funds, pension funds, and other big investors. he'd been at the firm for about 12 years, and could hardly have scripted a more dramatic exit. "integrity? it is eroding," he wrote in "the new york times." "the environment now is as toxic and destructive as i have ever seen it. it makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off." >> smith: you know, this might be hard for people at goldman sachs to understand, but i... i loved the place. i put a lot of my heart and soul into it. i don't view it as a betrayal. i actually think the leaders of goldman sachs today don't have the long-run interests of the institution at heart.

>> cooper: did anybody within the firm know you were going to be leaving? >> smith: no. >> cooper: so, the... the first time many people within goldman sachs learned you were leaving was when they opened up "the new york times" and saw this op-ed. >> smith: yeah, i mean, the idea of the op-ed was... was not to do any destruction. >> cooper: i think some people are... just aren't going to believe that-- that to not give notice to a company you've worked for for 12 years, and in the most public way possible in the page of "the new york times" to say that they are going against all the values that they... they once held. how can that not be seen by... as a betrayal? >> smith: well, it's... it's true. i mean, i think the company is going against the values it once held. >> join a culture of excellence... >> ...with a reputation for integrity... >> ...goldman sachs. >> cooper: for years, greg smith was one of the company's true believers. he was selected to appear in this 2006 recruiting video, in which he talked about the business principles goldman teaches to every new employee. >> smith: one of the principles

i really like is... is about reputation and how important our reputation is. and that really comes to integrity and how important integrity is within the firm. >> cooper: born and raised in south africa, smith was an economics major at stanford university when goldman recruited him as a summer intern in 2000 and hired him the following year. smith rose through the ranks at a time when goldman's revenues from trading increased five-fold in five years. it was the result of a boom in complex financial products and a loosening of financial regulations that enabled goldman and other banks to vastly increase profits by doing transactions for their clients, while trading with their own money as well. >> smith: goldman sachs, and other firms on wall street, started learning how to use the information they were getting from their clients in order to bet with their own money-- at times, betting against their clients. and you know, that's a real changed mentality from, "how do we do what our client wants to do?" not, "how do we take advantage of what the client's doing to

make money for ourselves?" >> cooper: smith's job was to sell derivatives-- not the complicated bets that nearly blew up the financial system in the collapse of 2008, but more straight-forward, openly traded products like options to buy stock or commodities. the problem, he says, is that inside goldman's offices, the promotions and big money went to people who sold complex products with unseen risks and hidden fees. >> smith: so what wall street will do is, they will approach one of these philanthropies, or endowments, or teachers' retirement pensions funds in alabama, or virginia, or oregon, and they'll say to them, "we have this great product that is going to serve your needs." and it looks very alluring to these investors. but what they don't realize is that, up front, they're immediately paying the bank $2 million or $3 million because of their lack of sophistication. >> cooper: so they don't say to the client, "the price you're paying for us to execute this trade is $1 million?"

>> smith: that's a huge part of the problem. not at all. >> cooper: how can it be that the client doesn't understand what the... what the bank is making? >> smith: these are very complicated derivative securities which takes a ph.d. in physics or in engineering to understand. and there are pension funds and mutual funds that represent people's 401(k)s and retirement savings that are trading the most complex instruments out there without fully understanding them. >> cooper: so, did the people you work with want unsophisticated clients? >> smith: getting an unsophisticated client was the golden prize. the quickest way to make money on wall street is to take the most sophisticated product and try to sell it to the least sophisticated client. >> cooper: smith says he first heard of a very sophisticated product called "abacus" in 2010, when the s.e.c. accused goldman of misleading investors who bought it. goldman paid a record $550- million fine to settle the charges.

goldman chairman lloyd blankfein was grilled about that deal and others by the senate subcommittee on investigations. committee chairman carl levin wanted to know why clients should trust goldman if it was recommending they buy securities that the company was betting against. >> senator carl levin: you are betting against the very product you are selling and you're just not troubled by it? >> lloyd blankfein: i'm sorry, i can't endorse your characterization... >> cooper: c.e.o. blankfein and other goldman executives testified that, when the firm does certain types of transactions with institutional investors, it's understood that the company doesn't have the same responsibility it does when it's acting as a financial adviser. >> smith: i was flabbergasted. what i can tell you is that's not what the client is thinking. the teachers' retirement fund, who's coming to goldman sachs or morgan stanley, is thinking that goldman sachs is one of the biggest, smartest banks in the world. the reason i'm coming to them is to get their advice on what to do. >> cooper: we wanted to hear what goldman sachs had to say, but after one off-camera meeting, we were told the firm

wanted to see what was in smith's book before giving an interview. so we spoke with frank partnoy, a highly respected professor of law and finance at the university of san diego and a former derivatives salesman himself. he told us he didn't think it was fair to single out goldman sachs. >> frank partnoy: if we look back and we look at wall street firms that were responsible for the financial crisis, the firms that in 2007 had these huge exposures to sub-prime mortgages, it's not goldman sachs. if every bank had been like goldman sachs, we would not have had a financial crisis. >> cooper: what about in terms of ethics? >> partnoy: in terms of ethics, i think goldman sachs is regarded as among the most ethical banks. i'm not sure that says a lot. on wall street... wall street, "ethics" is a sort of oxymoron, but goldman sachs you can trust more than just about anyone else. >> cooper: greg smith was... he was a vice president, relatively junior position at goldman sachs. why do you think it got so much attention for what he did? >> partnoy: because people who work at goldman sachs don't talk about working at goldman sachs. there's... >> cooper: it's like fight club? >> partnoy: it is a little bit,

or maybe like the mafia, that people are reluctant to talk about what's happened there. it's a golden goose and you don't shoot the golden goose. people there make a lot of money and they don't want to talk about it. >> cooper: smith says he grew even more disillusioned after the senate hearings when he and a goldman sachs partner met in asia with a major client, the head of one of the biggest funds in the world. >> smith: and he looks me and a partner in the eye and says, "let me be honest with you guys-- we don't trust you at all. but don't worry, there's nothing to worry about. we're going to keep doing business with you because you're the biggest bank. you're the smartest. and actually, we have to do business with you." now, my jaw almost dropped, because hearing from one of your biggest clients that they don't trust you when your whole mantra and reputation is built on trust-- to me, it was the worst possible thing you can hear. and then, i leave the meeting and the partner from goldman sachs who i was with is jubilant. "this is great news. the client is going to keep doing business with us because they have to." >> cooper: in 2011, smith moved

to goldman's london office, the very month the company announced a wide-ranging effort to improve its business practices. smith saw little change. he say's his co-workers in london repeatedly referred to their clients as "muppets"... >> ♪ the rainbow connection... >> cooper: ...and not in the kind-hearted way their "sesame street" creators intended. >> ♪ the dreamers and me. >> smith: in europe, a "muppet" is a term for someone you can manipulate, someone who is an idiot. >> cooper: so people at goldman sachs, who you worked with, used to call their clients idiots, essentially? >> smith: all... all the time. not to their face, but behind their back. >> cooper: you heard people you work with talk about overcharging clients, bragging about it? >> smith: within week one, i met a junior guy who was 24 or 25 years old, and the first thing he told me was he'd just traded a sophisticated derivative with a muppet client who paid the firm an extra million dollars because the client was so trusting that he didn't check the price with other banks.

now, you could think to yourself, "is this some rogue guy who's just talking callously about clients?" but his boss, who's a managing director, was sitting right next to him, nodding and chuckling along and... >> cooper: the boss was laughing about it? >> smith: absolutely. they were both laughing about it. >> cooper: off camera, goldman executives told us they conducted an investigation after smith's article came out and found no evidence of wrong- doing. the firm did show us one london email in which clients were referred to as "muppets," but pointed out there was no mention of ripping those muppets off. something that goldman says is, there are procedures in place where, if you have concerns, you can raise a red flag, and you can even do it confidentially. and yet, they say you didn't do that. >> smith: well, i spoke to nine senior partners of the firm, people who had been partners since 2004. if anyone at goldman sachs says, "we were surprised by this," they shouldn't have been. >> cooper: goldman says that you wanted a million dollars in compensation, that you wanted a

promotion, and you later learned that you were not going to get that and that's what's behind this. >> smith: i think that would be a criticism i would expect to hear from goldman sachs. >> cooper: had they given you a promotion, had they given you a million dollars in compensation, would you still have quit? >> smith: absolutely. >> cooper: i think a lot of people would find that hard to believe. >> smith: well... well, what i can say to you is-- and, this may seem stupid-- but i didn't go to wall street purely to make lots of money. >> cooper: but i don't know anybody who's ever gone to wall street and not had the idea of making money... >> smith: oh, no, i... i definitely wanted to make money. but i left because things had veered so far from what i actually believed was right that i could have just left and walked out and said nothing about it. but i would have felt that was not the right thing to do. >> cooper: how do you think what he's saying is going to be viewed on wall street? >> partnoy: i think people at goldman sachs will breathe a huge sigh of relief. >> cooper: relief? >> partnoy: i think they'll read